Namibia’s first democratically elected president, Sam Nujoma is dead at 95.
The activist was one of the founding fathers of Namibia after it won its independence from apartheid South Africa.
Namibian presidency on Sunday said the ex-president died on Saturday.
Nujoma rose to head the thinly populated southern African country on March 21, 1990 and was formally recognised as the “Founding Father of the Namibian Nation” through a 2005 act of parliament.
The acclaim was balanced out by domestic and international criticism over his intolerance of critical media coverage, his railing against homosexuality and over the 1998 constitutional amendment that let him run for a third term.
He was a longtime ally of Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe, backing Mugabe’s land seizures from white farmers, though at home Nujoma stuck to a “willing buyer, willing seller” policy.
“The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken,” the presidency posted on X.
“Our venerable leader, Dr. Nujoma did not only blaze the trail to freedom – but he also inspired us to rise to our feet and to become masters of this vast land of our ancestors.”
The presidency said Nujoma had been hospitalised for medical treatment over the past three weeks, adding: “Unfortunately, this time, the most gallant son of our land could not recover from his illness.”
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said Nujoma’s leadership of a free Namibia laid the foundation for the solidarity and partnership the two countries share today, “a partnership we will continue to deepen as neighbours and friends.”
“Dr Sam Nujoma was an extraordinary freedom fighter who divided his revolutionary programme between Namibia’s own struggle against South African colonialism and the liberation of South Africa from apartheid,” he said in a statement.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat hailed Nujoma as one of the continent’s “most illustrious revolutionary leaders” and “the epitome of courage.”
Nujoma served his three terms as president from 1990 to 2005 and sought to project himself as a unifying leader bridging political divides.
In a country scarred by the legacy of apartheid and German colonial rule, Nujoma’s SWAPO party oversaw a national reconciliation programme under the motto “One Namibia, One Nation”.
